"It's a good time to be a dealer in Houston," said Steve McDowell, owner of InfoNation, publisher of Tex Auto Facts, which tracks vehicle sales in the 10-county Houston region.

Last year, area dealers sold 216,249 new vehicles, compared with 196,842 in 2010, he noted, an almost 10 percent increase.

"Last year was certainly the start of a solid recovery," McDowell said. "We bottomed out in 2009 and started recovering in 2010. This year is looking to be a dynamite year."

One dealer is glad he is in Houston because he has always sensed a strong car and truck culture here.

"Houstonians are car people," said Kevin Allen, general manager of Munday Chevrolet. "Everybody in Houston has to have a car. A short drive is 40 miles. It's great to be in this part of the country. Texans just love cars and trucks."

Noting that a number of manufacturers shut down poor-performing dealerships in Houston and across the U.S. in 2010, McDowell said surviving dealers now benefit from less competition.

In 2008, for example, the 273 Houston-area dealers sold an average of 906 stores per store, compared with the 223 dealers in 2012 posting a projected 1,083 sales per store, he noted. McDowell gets his data from Texas Department of Motor Vehicles title records.

Last year, three out of the top five dealers for sales were domestic, compared with five years ago, when four of the top five dealers sold Toyotas. Locally, vehicles from foreign manufacturers made up 54.6 percent of the market last year, compared with 57.5 percent in 2010, McDowell said.

The top dealer in Houston for retail sales of new vehicles in 2011 was Lone Star Chevrolet, up from No. 5 in 2010. Fred Haas Toyota-Scion World was No. 2 both years.

Rounding out the next three spots were Sterling McCall Toyota-Scion, at No. 3, down from No. 1; Munday Chevrolet at No. 4, up from No. 6; and Beck & Masten North-Buick-GMC at No. 5, up from No. 7.

"Last year was very good to us, and 2012 looks like it will be quite a bit better," said Ron Roeder, general sales manager of Mac Haik Ford in Katy. "We're very excited about how the industry is trending."

Munday Chevrolet's Allen had a similar take: All in all, 2011 "was a great year," he said.

"Last year we got more optimistic every month," he said, "and this year it's even better."